1. Technical Field
The present invention is directed to portable railroad track devices and, more particularly, to a portable turnout system which includes a ramp section, a plurality of curved track panels which connect to and extend rearwards from the ramp section and a plurality of support devices such as outriggers for at least partially supporting the curved track panel sections adjacent the permanent main track line on which the portable turnout system is to be mounted in order to permit repair equipment and the like to be quickly and easily moved on to and off of the permanent railroad main track line.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With many thousands of miles of track in the United States, railroad companies such as Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe must remain constantly vigilant for track damage or other problems which would render the track inoperable for use. There have been numerous developments in the field of railroad track damage determination and repair and the speed with which a repair crew can operate can be quite impressive. One problem which remains unsolved, however, is how to permit the repair crew to have enough time on the railroad line to complete the repair or to perform necessary maintenance work. In the case of main line repair, a repair crew may only have six hours or so to make repairs before having to get off of the line to permit a train to go through. While this amount of time is usually sufficient to complete many repairs, such is not the case when the repair must be performed in a remote location, particularly in a location which does not have a nearby turnout to permit the repair crew's equipment to be removed from and replaced on the main line. In fact, it is not uncommon for the repair crew to have to travel upwards of twenty to thirty miles from the nearest spur line to the repair location, and all of that travel time takes away from the repair time available to the repair crew. There is therefore a need for a portable turnout system which can be used in many different locations to permit a repair crew to quickly remove their equipment from the main line onto a temporary spur line and then quickly replace the equipment on the main line as soon as the main line has been used to continue the repair operation.
Another important need for any portable turnout system is that it engage the railroad track line to permit the transfer of equipment on and off the railroad track line in such a manner as to not require modification of the railroad track line itself. For example, current technology for spur lines requires the installation of a switch on the line to transfer the equipment from the line to the spur. Clearly, the installation of a switch on a line is a major undertaking, and a temporary spur line would not only need to have the switch installed but then also removed to put the line back in its original configuration. There is therefore a need for a portable turnout system which will be able to be installed on and removed from a rail line without requiring substantial modification of the rail line itself.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a portable turnout system for use on rail lines and for connection to a temporary spur line.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a portable turnout system which includes a ramp section mountable on the rail line, a portable transfer track connectable to the ramp section and further including at least one portable track section, at least one portable transfer track support device for supporting the portable transfer track and the portable transfer track connectable at the opposite end thereof to a spur line.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a portable turnout system which is mountable on the rail line without requiring substantial modification of the rail line so that the portable turnout system is useable at many locations along the rail line to facilitate repairs to the rail line.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a portable turnout system which can quickly and easily be installed and removed from the rail line.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a portable turnout system which is height-adjustable to accommodate variations in the elevation and terrain of the location adjacent the rail line so that the temporary turnout can be used in less than ideal locations.
Finally, an object of the present invention is to provide a portable turnout system which is relatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture and is safe, efficient and effective in use.